Keroro Gunsou Episode 123
Category: Frogs/Sgt. Frog Anime Review
Summary/SPOILER Summary:
The Hinata family goes to Hinata's grandmother's house for the Obon festival. Keroro's platoon follows under the guise of training. Kururu notices something unusual. Then, Tsumi sees a ghostly slug trying to eat an eggplant. As Fuyuki, Keroro, Tamama, Giroro, and Dororo investigate, each of them encounters their greatest fear. Kururu appears and reveals himself to be the alien Kawaru, who uses humans' greatest fears as a defense mechanism.
Keroro plans to use Kawaru. To that end, they attempt to lure him into a trap to trap him. Meanwhile, the Hinata family goes to the river to attend the Obon festival. Grandma Hinata notices an unusual number of candle lanterns on the river. She returns to where Keroro took Kawaru. Grandma Hinata orders him to release the alien and then takes him down the river. The alien returns to his ship, briefly appearing as Hinata's grandmother before leaving.
Later, Mrs. Hinata observes Tamama's training. He sees a turtle on the path and challenges it to a race. He then sees the turtle still walking slowly, head down. After lunch and a snack of watermelon, the team finds the turtle still wandering on the path. The platoon has a discussion there, where Dororo recounts the story of the Tortoise and the Hare. Kururu tells the story of URASHIMA Taro, who saved a turtle.
That night, the group goes to the summer festival. Hinata recalls how a vendor gave Tsumi and Fuyuki a turtle when they were children. However, it escaped. Mrs. Hinata quips that the turtle Tamama saw might have been her. Tamama brings the turtle a snack but finds it reunited with the vendor. The next day, Tamama leaves the snack with Mrs. Hinata as they all return home.
Thoughts/Reviews:
It's been a few years since I last reviewed an episode of this old series. There are two stories in Keroro Gunsou Episode 123, which is standard for this series. However, at least two episodes were linked together through a trip to Hinata's grandmother's house.
Lost aliens?
I found the Keroro Gunsou episode 123 quite interesting, trying to educate viewers about the Obon festival in Japan. Also, I don't understand why this Kawaru alien is hanging around Hinata's grandmother's house. Furthermore, I don't understand why she knows to send the alien down to the river, where its ship seems to be. It seems like, “We need something supernatural that's tied to Obon, but with an alien twist.” Well, that's exactly what we got.
However, if you check our brains for all the plot holes, the ending of the story is pretty good. Earlier, Grandma Hinata mentioned how she really wanted to see her grandmother again. And thanks to the alien's illusion skills, Grandma Hinata got her wish. Yeah, it's a little funny, but I'll let it slide.
The Story of the Turtle
The second half of Keroro Gunsou Volume 123 deals with Tamama's deep interest in a turtle. To that end, it's a neat way for the writers to reference a turtle story from an old Western fable and a story from an old Japanese tale. What's odd here is that the turtle that Tamama keeps seeing is implied to be the same turtle that Natsume and Fuyuki met one day as children. I guess the turtle spent years trying to get back to the shopkeeper? And somehow the old shopkeeper recognized the turtle? Oh, whatever.
Final thoughts and conclusions
Ultimately, Keroro Gunsou Episode 123 is fine as is. The first story is a bit more interesting, although both stories have a lot of “Huh?” elements. Oh yeah, and there’s a countdown to whatever movie happens when it hits zero.
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